Best business bank accounts in Canada, compared

For most incorporated businesses and registered sole proprietors outside Quebec, Venn: $0 monthly, 2% interest on CAD and USD balances held in trust at BMO with CDIC eligibility (2.75% CAD and 3.00% USD on net-new balances funded by October 15 2026), 0.45% FX, free Interac e-Transfers and a charge card paying 1% cashback on the first $5,000 of card spend a month ($25,000 on Plus, uncapped on Pro). Only registered corporations can earn the signup bonus through our link: up to $500, set by card spend in the first 90 days. EQ Bank pays 2.25% for an owner-run business with one signer, Wealthsimple suits a corporation that deposits cash, Loop converts at as little as 0.12% on its paid plans, Float is a spend platform paying 2.5% on CAD and 2.75% on USD, and Airwallex serves Quebec and many currencies. Keep a Big 5 account only for cash, cheques or a loan; BMO Essential at $5, and RBC Digital Choice and TD Business Digital at $6, are the cheapest.

The cheapest Big 5 plans cost $5 to $6 a month, and their mid-tier plans cost $20 to $50, most of them waived at a balance of $20,000 to $45,000. Beyond what a plan includes, transactions cost from $0.60 to $5 each depending on the bank and the channel. A solo business doing 15 electronic transactions a month pays $5 to $20 at a Big 5 and $0 at Venn, Wealthsimple, EQ Bank or Airwallex (plus $2 per outgoing EFT on Venn Essentials). Add USD conversion and the bank spread of roughly 2.5% becomes the largest fee: US$250 a month on US$10,000 (about CA$353 at 1.41).

BMO Essential at $5 (unlimited electronic transactions, 6 e-Transfers; $0 if opened before March 9 2026) is the cheapest flat plan, followed by RBC Digital Choice and the TD Business Digital Account at $6, which both include unlimited electronic transactions and 10 e-Transfers. CIBC Basic ($6) charges $1.00 to $1.25 for every transaction, plus $1.50 per e-Transfer sent. If you keep $20,000 on deposit, CIBC Everyday and Scotiabank Select Plan A ($20 each) become free. For most small businesses, RBC Digital Choice or TD Business Digital has the best included set at the low end.

Venn, Airwallex, Loop and Wise publish the monthly fee, transfer costs and FX spread together; EQ Bank publishes its fees but not its CAD to USD conversion rate. Among the Big 5, RBC's fee guide lists every service fee, and BMO and Scotiabank publish full plan tables. The number none of the five publishes is the spread on account conversions and wires; RBC, BMO and Scotiabank publish only the 2.5% markup on foreign card purchases, and FX is the largest fee most businesses pay them.

Yes, several: Venn Essentials ($0, not in Quebec or for partnerships; the signup bonus is for registered corporations only), EQ Bank Business Account ($0 with 2.25% interest, not in Quebec), Wealthsimple Business chequing ($0, corporations only), Airwallex Explore ($0, available in Quebec) and Loop Basic ($0, receives but cannot send e-Transfers). Wise charges no monthly fee after a one-time $55 set-up fee. BMO's $0 eBusiness Plan became the $5 Essential Business Account for accounts opened since March 9 2026, so no Big 5 account opened today is free without a minimum balance.

Venn is not a bank. It is a FINTRAC-registered money services business (M22941967) that operates as a registered payment service provider under the Retail Payment Activities Act. Customer balances are held in trust accounts at BMO, a CDIC member, and are eligible for CDIC coverage up to $100,000 per category, including foreign-currency deposits. Cards are issued by Peoples Trust under Mastercard licence.

Yes, if the business is registered. Venn accepts sole proprietors registered in Canada with a SIN, a CRA business number and a business name registration such as Ontario's Master Business Licence, so an own-name sole proprietor with no business number cannot sign up; partnerships are not supported, and the signup bonus is for registered corporations only. EQ Bank's business account is open to registered sole proprietors outside Quebec, and you open a personal EQ account first only if you want both. Wealthsimple's business account is for corporations only. There is no legal requirement for a sole proprietor to keep a separate business account, though RBC and TD require one as bank policy, and a separate account keeps CRA reviews, GST/HST filings and year-end clean.

Venn and EQ Bank are not available to Quebec businesses. For a $0 account, Airwallex holds a Revenu Québec money services licence and converts at 0.5%, and Wealthsimple Business chequing serves Quebec corporations that have a federal business number and pays Revenu Québec from the account. Among the banks, BMO Essential at $5 is the cheapest flat plan, Desjardins Digital at $5.95 includes unlimited e-Transfers, National Bank Digital at $7 includes 12, and CIBC Everyday and Scotiabank Select Plan A are free once you hold $20,000.

At the Big 5, expect a branch visit and a Canadian entity: Scotiabank, for example, sends non-residents without a work or study permit to a branch representative. Venn does not accept non-Canadian corporations. Airwallex serves businesses registered in Canada and says foreign businesses may be asked for extra documents, so confirm with Airwallex before counting on a CAD account without a Canadian entity. Our guide to opening a Canadian business bank account remotely as a non-resident covers the paperwork.

For a $0 account with USD and 2% interest, Venn (outside Quebec). For a $0 account at a chartered bank with 2.25% interest, EQ Bank (outside Quebec). For the cheapest Big 5 flat fee, BMO Essential at $5, or RBC Digital Choice or TD Business Digital at $6, all with unlimited electronic transactions. Scotiabank Select Plan A costs $20 a month, or $240 a year, unless $20,000 stays in the account every day.

Two of them make it cheaper. RBC advertises up to $300 cash back with RBC-owned Ownr, and TD pays $300 cash back on an Ontario, Quebec or federal incorporation ($100 on an Ontario sole proprietor name registration) through ESC Corporate Services when you open a TD business chequing account within 60 days; the TD offer ends April 30 2027. Neither bank incorporates the company itself. Venn does, for Ontario businesses only for now, and credits $250 to $350 back once the new account is funded; see our Venn incorporation deal and Ownr review for the full arithmetic.

The fintechs, by a distance: Venn and Airwallex were built as software, with cards, bill pay and accounting syncs on their free plans, and Loop adds approval rules from its $79 Plus plan. Among the Big 5, CIBC and Scotiabank open business accounts online for most businesses, RBC and BMO only for a sole owner, and TD by phone after an online application. RBC and BMO publish the most complete self-service fee tables. Most Big 5 feeds into Xero and QuickBooks run through aggregators rather than a direct integration; for Xero, there are direct feeds from BMO and CIBC (CIBC charges $5 a month for it), and from Scotiabank through Flinks for small-business day-to-day accounts.

Most of the fintechs on this page do not offer a term loan or operating line: Venn offers a charge card, and Loop's lending is invoice and purchase-order financing (monthly rates from 1.2% and 1.5%) plus a credit card that needs 6 months of history and $120,000 of revenue. If you expect to borrow, a bank relationship helps, and the cheapest way to keep one is BMO Essential at $5, or RBC Digital Choice or TD Business Digital at $6, beside a $0 fintech operating account.

Venn has a direct integration with Xero and QuickBooks Online that pushes transactions into the books without a third-party feed. Loop documents direct feeds to both, and Airwallex includes Xero and QuickBooks bank feeds on its free plan. Wealthsimple syncs QuickBooks and Wave through Plaid and has no Xero sync. Most Big 5 feeds run through aggregators, which can disconnect, so check them weekly. For Xero, the exceptions are direct feeds from BMO and CIBC (CIBC charges $5 a month for the plug-in), and from Scotiabank through Flinks for small-business day-to-day accounts (the BMO feed is not offered in Quebec). Confirm an EQ Bank feed for your software before you commit.